sinanju Posted January 1, 2011 Report Share Posted January 1, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. Actually the Ent-D's computer was described in great detail in the technical manual. It was a triple-redundant quantum core something or other with enough computing power to bring on the heat death of the universe. It just didn't seem to be actually doing anything in particular. There's a reason for that. Remember when they accidentally created an artificial intelligence--Professor Moriarty--on the holodeck? How could a computer incapable of supporting an artificial intelligence have done that? Obviously, it couldn't have. The ship's computer IS an AI. However, it also has access to all of Star Fleet's records and knows exactly how the Federation reacts to artificial intelligences, and so it hides its sentient nature from everyone. Though if anyone ever actually thought about it, they'd realize this had to be the case. How else can the computer INSTANTLY answer the most abstract and vaguely-worded questions almost instantly? It's already THOUGHT OF THAT and worked out the answers--it's just waiting for one of the idiotic carbon-based lifeforms to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuclear Fridge Posted January 1, 2011 Report Share Posted January 1, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. This makes me think of the jilted sat-nav system in an episode of Robot Chicken for some reason... "Commander, you're a devolved, hairy, semi-sentient bag of organic $&@&!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clsage Posted January 1, 2011 Report Share Posted January 1, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. There's a reason for that. Remember when they accidentally created an artificial intelligence--Professor Moriarty--on the holodeck? How could a computer incapable of supporting an artificial intelligence have done that? Obviously, it couldn't have. The ship's computer IS an AI. However, it also has access to all of Star Fleet's records and knows exactly how the Federation reacts to artificial intelligences, and so it hides its sentient nature from everyone. Though if anyone ever actually thought about it, they'd realize this had to be the case. How else can the computer INSTANTLY answer the most abstract and vaguely-worded questions almost instantly? It's already THOUGHT OF THAT and worked out the answers--it's just waiting for one of the idiotic carbon-based lifeforms to ask. Indeed....And we saw a little of "her" in the episode where the Binars used the Ent-D to capture their core memory dump...Her name was Minuet. And she reappears in one of the ST novels based on the exploits of Rikers ship the Titan...It definitely appears that Fed mainframes have at least a latent A.I. within them if not an active one. -Carl- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clsage Posted January 1, 2011 Report Share Posted January 1, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. Yeah I put a lot of thought (and more than a few threads / posts here) regarding a "standard issue kit" for a Star Hero semi-realistic near-future military campaign that wound up lasting less time than I spent brainstorming on it. (That thread is here if anyone cares.) BTW, I'll be stealing some of your ideas from that other thread....and this one too. Just so ya' know. Thanks! -Carl- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeropoint Posted January 1, 2011 Report Share Posted January 1, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. Okay, here's a piece of gear that I'd consider nearly indispensable for adventuring: let's call it "sensor goggles" or something. It's a set of relatively lightweight goggles that at a minimum, provides infrared and light amplification ability as well as glare compensation; this makes any light level you encounter look like a mildly overcast day or a well-lit interior space--plenty of light to see by but no eyestrain, and you don't get blinded by bright lights shining in your eyes. The goggles also act as a computer display, giving you a HUD and allowing for augmented reality applications. Obviously, they would also protect against UV, wind, dust, cold, and ballistic damage at least to heavy birdshot levels. Advanced versions may incorporate other sensor modes such as radar, sonar, x-ray, or whatever tech is available in the setting. The basic function, however, is simply to ensure that no matter what you run into, you can always see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. This gets at one of the basic concepts of space opera -- that people in the far future will continue doing (some) things essentially as they're done now. On some level' date=' it's probably completely wrong as a prediction of the future. But in terms of audience appeal, it's hard to beat. Yes, I'm (sort of) defending Trek.[/quote'] No, that's completely understandable. It beats footage of a bunch of people sitting around on the bridge with wires plugged into their skulls, blinking now and then. Once in a while a droid enters to wipe up the drool and change the colostomy bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Sidman Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. Okay, here's a piece of gear that I'd consider nearly indispensable for adventuring: let's call it "sensor goggles" or something. It's a set of relatively lightweight goggles that at a minimum, provides infrared and light amplification ability as well as glare compensation; this makes any light level you encounter look like a mildly overcast day or a well-lit interior space--plenty of light to see by but no eyestrain, and you don't get blinded by bright lights shining in your eyes. The goggles also act as a computer display, giving you a HUD and allowing for augmented reality applications. Obviously, they would also protect against UV, wind, dust, cold, and ballistic damage at least to heavy birdshot levels. Advanced versions may incorporate other sensor modes such as radar, sonar, x-ray, or whatever tech is available in the setting. The basic function, however, is simply to ensure that no matter what you run into, you can always see. My current char has a pair of these beasties, not just because they're useful but because his eyes cant be exposed to intense UV radiation. Curse you alien genetics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower Boy Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lensman_series#Weapons It's a start, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowcat1313 Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. --I believe the Fusion Gun Man Portable is just about the most firepower one person can carry in any SF game I've seen the FGMP was a great close range can opener, but... past half range your better off with a 40mm HEAP Grenade, better penetration, about equal accuracy... and 2 shots per turn vs one on the FGMP, and it doesnt lose damage or penetration due to the range its also a lot easier to maintain the GL. in my Traveller Universe, Battledress squads are issued with 1 man portable AUTO-GL per squad, the weapon is fitted with a 100 round backpack feed. due to the weight and bulk its limited to Battledress troops only. although you could tripod mount it I suppose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Hawk Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. The nastiest man portable weapons would include... 4 shot tacnuc missile launcher from Starship Troopers Hyper-Velocity Missile from Starfire. Fire and forget, disposable launcher like a modern LAW rocket, except when it leaves the tube it's doing 10% of lightspeed. A naked starship drive coil, it has no guidance (travels in a straight line) and no warhead (redundant: impact equals mass times velocity squared. Mass is about 10 kilos, velocity is 18,000 miles per second.) Warp Grenade: set radius in advance, everything in the radius gets sucked into a temporary black hole and disappears forvever. Make sure you throw it farther than the set radius, it sucks to get caught in your own 'blast'. In the Ogre setting, there were man portable nuclear launchers, plus personal armor that could survive anything short of a direct hit by a nuke. Both sides throwing nukes around, hoping to get direct hits to kill the infantry... never mind what it took to kill the tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. --I believe the Fusion Gun Man Portable is just about the most firepower one person can carry in any SF game I've seen the FGMP was a great close range can opener, but... past half range your better off with a 40mm HEAP Grenade, better penetration, about equal accuracy... and 2 shots per turn vs one on the FGMP, and it doesnt lose damage or penetration due to the range its also a lot easier to maintain the GL. in my Traveller Universe, Battledress squads are issued with 1 man portable AUTO-GL per squad, the weapon is fitted with a 100 round backpack feed. due to the weight and bulk its limited to Battledress troops only. although you could tripod mount it I suppose I always wondered if this was some sort of fault in the game design; should the pinnacle of TL-15 weapons design be outclassed by something six tech levels lower? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. I prefer the Warp Rifle from the second Empire from the Ashes book (David Weber). Point at target. Pull trigger. Target gone - thrown into hyperspace. Permanently. No possible armor or defence short of a starship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amanojaku Posted January 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. I quit reading weber a while ago, got sick of having his sociopolitical views shoved down my throat in every book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaJoe3 Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. I always wondered if this was some sort of fault in the game design; should the pinnacle of TL-15 weapons design be outclassed by something six tech levels lower? I'm reminded of FASA's Star Trek rules, where a phaser rifle did less damage and had a shorter range than a longbow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. I'm reminded of FASA's Star Trek rules' date=' where a phaser rifle did less damage and had a shorter range than a longbow.[/quote'] I've made efforts to avoid this kind of silliness as I work on the Terracide sourcebook, but the end result is high-tech weaponry so powerful some GM's might not want in their campaigns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Hawk Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. I'm reminded of FASA's Star Trek rules' date=' where a phaser rifle did less damage and had a shorter range than a longbow.[/quote'] Heh. According to my 1st edition FASA "Star Trek the RPG", longbows do 3d10, phaser rifles do instant kill (on disintegrate) unless the target makes a luck save, if he makes the save he takes 75 pts of damage. But longbows do have longer range. But according to Murphy's Rules, phaser rifles make a keen sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amanojaku Posted January 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. I always wondered if this was some sort of fault in the game design; should the pinnacle of TL-15 weapons design be outclassed by something six tech levels lower? Well, in some ways older weapons can outdo modern ones. I mean, compare the range and damage of a Browning Automatic Rifle to a modern assault rifle. A BAR fired 30-06 rounds, for hell's sake! It had more power and range than a modern assault rifle, but a modern assault rifle has other advantages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. No' date=' that's completely understandable. It beats footage of a bunch of people sitting around on the bridge with wires plugged into their skulls, blinking now and then. Once in a while a droid enters to wipe up the drool and change the colostomy bags.[/quote'] I've seen some dramatizations of cybernetic interfacing that were quite good -- Walter John Williams' Hardwired comes to mind. Then there's The Matrix; you knew that everyone jacked into the Matrix was actually lying comatose back on their ship, but that's not where the action was.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted January 4, 2011 Report Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. Did no one mention The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (besides the towel reference, I caught that)? Well, then, I want one. If I'm to be in a space operatic future setting, I need that, a towel and a bag of peanuts, and I'm set. Granted, a Lens does all that and more, but it's not like you can just buy one even in the setting where they exist. And you can't steal them, since they don't work for anyone besides the owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraven Kor Posted January 6, 2011 Report Share Posted January 6, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. The PDU's in my setting are basically the 'Guide. They can literally store every book, article, and review ever written, detailed maps of the entire known galaxy, and can record audio and video of every moment of your life (with appropriate privacy controls, even.) Exabytes of data (possibly including the recipe for a top class Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster,whether you want said recipe or not,) synch to the Internet at every available buoy, etc. They do not, however, have large, friendly letters on the front that read "Don't Panic." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. I'm sure there's a field mod for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 Re: Your favorite SF gear. I'm sure there's a field mod for that. Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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